Everyone warned me this would happen. You move to the Lehigh Valley for an internship, you and a bunch of your friends get hired and bond, then after a year or so, one by one, they all move away. The senior editor at my internship went through this. She still works in the LV, but she commutes every day from a place that’s closer to Philly.

The exodus began when my old roommate got a job in New York last December. Her boyfriend works here, so she’s still around every other weekend.

Today, my good friend found out that she got a new job. This is excellent news, as her current job has been making her miserable approximately since the day she started in 2009, but now she has to move to New York as well.

Another one of my close friends is moving to France in September. And I know at least two other members of da crew are looking to get out of here. That’s life, I suppose, but come on. I want everything to stay the same! I don’t want anyone to leave!

I realized shortly after I began studying magazine journalism that living in New York at some point was almost inevitable. It still looks that way. Even if I try to advance in my department – my current career strategy – most of the edit staff is based in New York, and I miss a lot of things just by being in a different office. I’m warming up to the idea of eventually living in New York, and I warm up to it more with every visit. (Attention, Christine: Now that it’s summer-like outside, when can we arrange a jorts-clad visit to the Beer Garden?)

But, I like the Lehigh Valley. We have nature! Things are cheap here! And my apartment is incredible. Plus, I have some friends who just moved here, and some who grew up here and will be staying for the foreseeable future.

The supergroup of friends from 2010 may never be all living in the same place at the same time again, but I suppose I should look on the bright side: No matter where I’m living in the next few years, I will have good friends there.

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Note: Remember the H will be on a brief hiatus as I travel to and from California. Hopefully I’ll get around to updating in a week or so.

One Response to Mass migration

Megan, I had the same experience living in DC. In my experience it has nothing to do with where you are, or where people end up. It’s simply the age and status of the people you’ve befriended – who have ambition to try something different and capacity to emotionally and financially give it a go. A lot of my college friends stuck around DC for a few years after graduation. But at some point it was time for each of us to go to grad school, work on Wall Street or try to be an actor in LA, join the Peace Corps, get married, move closer to family, live somewhere different. Even if you love where you live (as I loved living in DC) and love the people you’re with, sometimes your reasons for going are more important/justified/exciting than your reasons for staying. I try to embrace the time I have with my friends, in the place where we met, and “the other places” that people inevitably end up. 🙂